Duel of Illusions
by mikromb13
Summary: Sequel to Duel of Fates, Co-write with Darkelements10. Fear attracts the fearful. Fear is my ally and my enemy. What do I do when my greatest strength is my greatest threat? It stalks me and those I love. But what if there's a way to be normal again?
1. Just Like Old Times

**Duel of Illusions**

**Co-written with Darkelements10**

**Summary: Sequel to ****Duel of Fates.**** Fear attracts the fearful. Fear is my ally and my enemy. What do I do when my greatest strength is my greatest threat? It stalks me and those I love. But what if there's a way to be normal again?**

**Chapter 1 – Just Like Old Times**

"Zack!" Sixteen year old Cody Martin said to his twin brother, Zack. Cody frowned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought we agreed on the plane that I was going to get the window side! You got it last time!" His eyes gave the interior of their hotel room a quick glance before once again falling on his brother. Cody look of complete annoyance however seemed to have no effect on Zack's demeanor at all.

Zack smiled as he shook his head. "Cody, Cody, Cody," Zack replied. He walked over to Cody and put his hand on his little brother's shoulder. "Where are we again?"

"Japan," Cody said sarcastically. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well," Zack said in a matter-of-fact tone. "If I remember correctly, in Japan you are supposed to honor your big brother. So since I am the eldest between us…by a grand fifteen minutes, I decided that I want the window side."

"But-"

"Sorry little bro," Zack said, cutting Cody off. He walked away from Cody and jumped onto the bed. "But rules are rules. Just remember, second born means second choice. So, since I get first choice, I'm taking the window side."

Cody growled as he flung his bag on the interior bed.

Zach chuckled to himself. He picked up the remote to their hotel room TV and flipped through the TV channels. "Oh," Zack said over the TV. "Look on the bright side Codes, you're closer to the bathroom."

"How is that good?" Cody said. "I don't eat like you."

"Oh, well," Zack responded with a laugh. "Never mind then."

Cody shook his head again as he walked out of the room to go cool off. _Zack is such a pain sometimes!_ Cody said to himself. _Seriously! Fifteen minutes! But besides that, how did he possibly remember that about Japan when he can't remember what the difference between sine and cosine is? Oh well, I'm here and I'm not gonna let Zack ruin it._

"Hey Cody!" A voice behind Cody called called. Cody spun around and looked at the smiling face of his friend, Sydney Hiroshima.

"Hey Syd," Cody replied, trying to clear his annoyance at his brother off his face and forced a smile. "You guys good to go?"

"Mostly," Sydney replied. "How you like here so far?"

"It's nice," Cody said as he briefly glanced around at their surroundings, which boasted the hotel's traditional Japanese theme. "Thanks again for bringing us too. Can't wait to see the concert."

Sydney smiled, causing dimples to form in each of his cheeks. "Yea no prob. We had the space so we figured what the hell? Guess you guys got in ok?"

"Yea, Julius picked us up from the airport," Cody said. "When'd you guys get here?"

"Yesterday morning," Sydney said as he shifted in place. "This concert's gonna be a big one. We've been trying to get set up since last night, but Pat and Noah were too tired from the flight. Luckily, the concert isn't until tomorrow night so we still got plenty of time to get set up."

"Yea," Cody nodded.

"And it gives us some time to show you guys some stuff," Sydney added.

"Yea true. I've always wanted to see Japan," Cody said. "After all I've read about it, the culture is just amazing! Did you know-"

"I probably do," Sydney said, cutting Cody off. He cocked his head as his smile stretched further.

"Yea probably," Cody shrugged.

Sydney looked at him. "What's wrong Cody?" Sydney asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Zack being Zack," Cody replied. "But I'm not going to let him ruin my good time."

Sydney smiled again. "Don't worry, Rikku will keep him in line."

"Yea I guess," Cody replied.

"Hey, here's something else you'll like," Sydney continued. "Crystal is here with us too."

Cody's look brightened up. "R-really?" Sydney nodded. "Where are they?" He asked figuring she'd be with her cousins, Rikku and Rumiku Hiroshima. Rikku and Rumiku were Sydney's older, twin sisters. Cody had met them and their cousin, Crystal, several years ago when Rikku, Rumiku, and their family had moved into the Tipton hotel.

"Down at the pool last I knew," Sydney said. "Her, Rikku and Rumiku went there to take a break."

"Oh, ok," Cody replied. "Thanks Syd, I'll see ya round." With that, Cody turned and headed for the elevator.

Sydney smiled to himself as he walked back to his own room.

"You tell him Syd?"

Sydney looked over and saw Rafael Cloud sitting at the table in his room.

"Raf-san!" Sydney said, rushing over. "What are you doing here?"

Rafael smiled. "Come on Syd! You guys have your biggest concert in a long time right here in my home town and you think I'm going to miss it?"

"That's true," Sydney replied. "But what did you mean by 'did I tell him?'"

"About that thing I explained to you last month."

Sydney shook his head. "I don't think we gotta worry about that right now. I mean, we haven't seen anything or anyone from Wingz Corp in two years."

"I know," Rafael said. "But if the scriptures are true, and they usually are, our plates are gonna be full for a while. Cody and Zack, being the most powerful elementals of our time should know what happened last time."

"I guess," Sydney said. "When's that supposed to happen anyway?"

"Tomorrow night," Rafael replied.

"Are you sure though? Didn't you say it only happens like once every 3,000 years or something?"

"That was the last time it happened," Rafael said. "But the signs are definitely pointing to it happening again tomorrow night."

"I'm not worried," Sydney replied. "No reason to be."

Rafael ran his hand through his hair. "Hope you're right Syd. Anyway you seen Julius? I gotta kick his butt at a few rounds of Mortal Kombat X."

"He's somewhere," Sydney replied. "Give him a call." With that, Sydney turned and walked out and back to Cody and Zack's room. "Hey Zack, giving Cody a hard time already?" Sydney asked with a smirk when he got there.

"Hey Syd," Zack replied, glancing over from his bed.

"How was the flight?" Sydney asked. Almost instantly though he regretted asking as he knew what Zack's answer would probably be.

"It was long," Zack said. "But it definitely had some great scenery." His eyes didn't leave the TV and it looked like he had to force a smile.

_And there it is,_ Sydney thought to himself. Looking over though, Sydney noticed that Zack seemed a little distracted, and didn't give his answer how he normally would. "What's up Zack?" Sydney asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Sydney said, stepping in front of the TV. "For starters, you didn't seem to care too much about that 'great scenery' when I asked you. What's up?"

"Nothing." He noticed Sydney's eyes were unwavering.

"Do I haveta read your mind?"

"You can't do that…can you?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Sydney answered smugly as he crossed his arms over his chest. _Duh I can't do that, but might get him to answer me._

"Fine," Zack replied. "I was just thinking what it might be like to be normal for a change. As in no elements, just being a normal teenager."

Sydney smiled slightly as he walked forward and sat down on the end of Zack's bed. "Would be different," he said. "But who knows, you might get to see what it's like."

"What do you mean?' Zack asked.

Sydney took a breath. "Well I was talking with Rafael, and looks like we're in line for a inter-star planetary alignment."

"A what?" Zack asked with a clueless face.

Sydney sighed. "Basically," he said as he walked over to the table and grabbed some paper that hotel provided to its rooms as well as a pen. "When these five stars, solar system, the sun, and the moon align like this with the earth in the center," Sydney the stars and planets. In the middle he drew the sun, moon, and earth in a line with the earth between the sun and the moon. "Something amazing happens. But this hasn't occurred for like thousands of years or something like that."

"What happens?" Zack asked curiously.

"Elemental powers disappear temporarily," Sydney finished as he crumbled up the paper. "At least that's what Rafael told me."

"Wait, so they just shut off?"

"Something like that," Sydney replied with a sigh. "But I don't think it will happen. Who knows, maybe you'll get to see what it's like to be 'normal' after all." Sydney made air quotes when he said "normal." "Anyway, excited about the concert?"

"Yea def," Zack said. "And I'm sure Rikku will be awesome, as usual."

Sydney rolled his eyes. _Here we go again,_ Sydney said to himself. "Yea, anyway I gotta go find her and Julius," Sydney said. "See ya guys at dinner."

"See ya," Zack replied. _To be normal again_, Zack thought to himself. _That's what would really be cool. It'll be just like old times, when everything was easy and we didn't haveta worry about the world day in and day out._ With that, Zack turned his attention back to the TV and was once again engrossed in his program.

* * *

**Don't own Suite Life. Please Read and Review.**


	2. Concerns

**Chapter 2 – Concerns**

That night Rafael treated the Hiroshimas, and Zack and Cody to dinner. With them also were the Hiroshimas' cousin, Crystal Manning, Rumiku's boyfriend, Mike, and their other friends from Boston; Tapeworm Michaels, Maxine 'Max' Montgomery, Ryan Cooper, Alan Brown, and Julius' girlfriend, Maddie Fitzpatrick.

In the past two years that they have been living in peace. Their relationships with their friends had changed. As their friendships have grown stronger and more unbreakable, there was bound to be some romantic feelings involved.

Mike, whom they had met two year ago, had been steadily dating Rumiku for two years. During their last big adventure, Rumiku, who held the element of darkness, had nearly been destroyed by her own powers. They had taken her over and caused a battle to erupt within her between her good and dark sides. Mike, along with help from Ryan, was able to save her just in time. Her powers had since returned to normal. The fact that their relationship had lasted this long was much to everyone's shock, but that didn't necessarily mean that they aren't happy for them. Although, Mike and Rikku had agreed to be friends and to stop arguing, which they had done ever since they first met each other, they still make fun of each other every once in a while.

Rikku finally made her relationship with Zack official when she chose him instead of Ryan. She did this after leaving the two of them up on a hillside for over two hours. Needless to say, Ryan was mad about it for a while, but realized that Rikku was still one of his best friends and he didn't want to do anything to ruin the relationship.

Cody and Crystal have been dating modestly as Cody is still kind of shy when it comes to girls, but it's obvious that the two are totally into each other. The fact that they sort of share the same element adds to it.

Max and Tapeworm are a mystery to their friends. No one is sure if they're dating, as they act too much like friends to date. But then again, they're so chummy that you could swear that they were together.

"Hey buddy, are you ok?" Nineteen year old Julius Hiroshima asked Zack when he realized that he wasn't talking to anyone and he wasn't eating his food.

"What?" Zack asked as he turned his gaze away from his plate of questionable food to the eldest Hiroshima child. Many wondered how the nineteen year old was able to handle his rambunctious siblings and juggle going to college online, while working in order to get enough money to send the rest of his family to college. Although it seemed like a lot, it was kind of easy for him.

"You're not eating, is the food ok?" Julius pointed out and then gave a teasing grin. "I know that Japanese food looks weird, but it's actually really good."

"Yeah Zack, try this sushi." Max added as she stabbed one of the pieces of raw fish and waved it under his nose like a hot pastry. When he didn't immediately take it, she rolled her eyes and became impatient. "I didn't do anything to it, I promise."

"Thanks Max." he replied and took the raw fish and shoved it into his mouth. He noticed that everyone was looking at him curiously and he swallowed thickly and smiled. "I know I'm good looking, but you guys don't have to stare."

"You're full of it, Zack." Cody rolled his eyes and punched his brother on the shoulder.

"What do you expect?" Ryan asked with a snort. "He's been that way forever; you think that he would change in a matter of minutes?"

"Shut it Cooper, unless you want a chopstick down your throat." Zack replied with an amused smirk. He knew that Ryan didn't mean it, the two were friends, although you couldn't tell because they were always putting each other down.

"Careful, we don't want any deaths on this trip," Mike warned. "It may cause for some suspicion, and I'm perfectly happy with a dull life right now. I don't want anyone to attack us for no reason."

"Ah leave him alone," Alan chided. "It's obvious that he has a lot of things on his mind." He turned to Rafael. "What kind of sights are we seeing tomorrow?"

"Anything you want, it doesn't take long to get around Tokyo," he replied and then made a face as he tilted his head back and forth." Well, that's a lie considering how many people are out. But if we start early, then there won't be a lot of crowds at first."

"We're going to have to duck out kind of early to finish setting up for the show," Patrick jumped into the conversation with his mouth full. "But starting early should give us plenty of time to hang out. Oh and don't forget your ID tomorrow. We've had too many cases where some random fan made it backstage and it wasn't a good thing."

Everybody burst out laughing and continued to eat, waiting for the next day.

When it was time to go, Zack had lapsed back into his silence, staring down at his hands, his green eyes narrowed in concentration. _I've been an element for so long that I don't think that I would be able to handle being normal. _He let out a heavy sigh and rested his elbows on the table. _But being normal, I wouldn't have to worry about mom being hurt, I wouldn't have to fight someone all of the time. There would be so many things that would go back to the way it was before, it may be a good thing_.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Zack looked up as Rikku sat down in the chair next to him. Startled, Zack noticed that his friends were leaving the restaurant. "Don't worry about it; I said that they could go on ahead. They're going to want a lot of sleep since you guys just got in today."

"Oh." Zack replied and stirred his straw in his drink. "Thanks for inviting us out, it's too bad that mom couldn't come."

Carey Martin, Zack and Cody's mother, had declined the Hiroshimas' offer to send her to Japan with them for many reasons. She told Cody that she was staying because she had too much work to do and she told Zack that she wanted to spend some time alone. But Cody, being the compassionate person that he is thought that she was still mourning over the Hiroshimas' 'dead' father. The two had briefly dated before he 'died' and he had never seen her happier.

"Well, she has some things that she needs to think about," Rikku replied calmly and tilted her head to the side. "Something's bothering you."

"Yeah, there is." Zack replied and looked at her, his eyebrows knitted together. "Have you ever thought about what life would be like if you didn't have an element?"

"Nope," Rikku replied instantly.

Zack blinked at her abruptness and gave a nervous chuckle. "What do you mean? You seriously have never thought about it?"

"No, I really haven't." Rikku replied and ran her fingers through her hair. "I mean, I know when I was born and up until I was nine I didn't have an element, or at least I had awakened it yet and I tend to not want to think about my life back then." She gave a nervous chuckle. "And I've had one for so long that it would be way too weird if I didn't have it. I don't think I would know what to do with myself if I didn't have DalFang around." She paused. "Why? Have you?"

Zack contemplated whether or not to lie about it. _If I tell her the truth, I have no idea how she's going to respond to it. And I don't even know what I want right now so_... "I haven't really thought about it, but Sydney mentioned it to me. It's just complicated, you know how smart your brother can be."

"I know that all too well." Rikku gave a small smile and it faded instantly. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"Ok"

Rikku stood up and kissed Zack's forehead before walking out of the restaurant. Zack got up from his seat and followed her back to the hotel, deep in thought.

It wasn't until he got back to the room that he pushed the 'being-a-normal-teenager' thing out of his mind. When he went into the hotel room, he watched as Cody pulled back the covers of his bed.

"Hey, are you ok?" Cody asked when he noticed his brother standing in the doorway. "You seemed really out of it during dinner."

"I'm just kind of tired, jet lag you know." Zack replied and gave a short smile. "Hey Cody, you can take the bed by the window."

Cody stopped what he was doing and looked at his twin with a raised eyebrow and a non-believing expression on his face. Walking over to Zack, he raised a hand and then pressed it against Zack's forehead when he reached him. Making a grunting sound, he pulled his hand away and stared at his brother.

"What?" Zack asked, starting to grow uneasy under his brother's gaze.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Zack?" Cody asked. "Because my brother would _never_ give up something that easily,"

"So I decided to do something nice for once, why don't you just be happy and take it?" Zack asked, slightly annoyed.

Cody beamed as he started to inch over towards the bed by the window. "That's the Zack that I know…and tolerate." He chuckled. "But seriously, what was on your mind, you've been in a funk ever since this afternoon."

"It was just something that Sydney told me, you see-"

"Everything he said just went flying over your head, right?" Cody interrupted. Zack tried to intervene but Cody continued his rant. "That doesn't surprise me, was he talking about something extremely simple or was it so hard that you just stood there with a 'duh?' look on your face?"

"Let's go with that." Zack replied quickly. _There's no need to alarm him, I mean, Sydney __did__ say that this may not happen and I've hardly seen a time where Sydney was wrong about something. But then again he's young, it could happen anytime_.

He sighed and decided to go to bed instead of dwelling on it.

It would probably keep him up at night and he wanted to have a good night's rest for the long da tomorrow.

"Zack?" Cody's voice asked quietly beside him from the darkness.

"What?" Zack replied, his voice matching his younger twins'.

"If there was something bothering you…you'd tell me right?"

"Of course"

"Because you know that you can tell me anything."

"Codester, you're my best friend, of course I would tell you if something was bothering me."

"Ok, I was just making sure. Good night, Zack."

"Good night, Cody."

* * *

"Cody, you're starting to fall behind!"

Cody yawned and shook his head before hurrying to catch up to his friends. He couldn't help but smile as Tapeworm put an arm around his shoulder and playfully hit him on the back of his head. It had taken a while for Cody to fall asleep last night, just being in a new place and being so excited about it.

He dreamed about all of the things that he wanted to do in Japan, go see the Tokyo Tower, see Mt. Fuji, ride on the bullet train, all sorts of things like that. And now that he was there, it was hard to believe that it was actually happening.

Rafael was walking at the front of the group, talking about the Asakusa Kannon Temple, and Cody moved forwards so he was able to hear him. "Apart from the temple being well known for its Buddhism, it is also known for the Brazilian style carnivals that are held there."

He was about to ask a question, but stopped walking and peered across the street. He could have sworn he saw someone watching him. But when he did a double take, there was no one there.

"Cody, c'mon." Crystal said, taking his hand and lightly tugging it.

"Sorry." Cody replied and walked along with her. "Hey, have you noticed that Zack's been acting kind of weird since we got here?"

"I thought it was just me," Crystal replied distractedly as the thumb on her left hand flew over the keys of her cell phone. She looked up at Cody and he could see that she had a concerned look in her eyes, although it didn't show on her face. "But you may be worrying about nothing. It could have just been jet lag."

"Yeah," Cody muttered in reply. _But somehow I doubt it_. He shook his head. "Who are you texting?"

"My dad, he was mad that he couldn't get off of work to come with us," Crystal replied with a smile. "He hasn't been to Japan in a while and he hasn't seen my cousins perform in a while either. Are you excited for it?"

"Very, but I don't think I can be as excited as they are, they must enjoy it a lot."

"Yeah." Crystal sighed.

Cody was going to ask her what was wrong but stopped when something caught his eye again. He let go of Crystal's hand and walked over to the side of the Asakusa Temple.

"What's up, Cody?" Mike asked as he walked over to sand by his friend.

Cody frowned as he realized that there was Japanese scripture on a block of the Temple. Mike studied it, and knowing that there was a reason that Cody had noticed it, turned back to his friends.

"Hey, can any of you guys read this?" he asked.

"Let me see." Rumiku replied and moved over to the two of them. She took a quick glance at the scripture, let out a shaky breath and took a step back. "No, I don't know what it says." She replied quietly.

Mike stared at her suspiciously, as if knowing that she was lying, but didn't say anything about it. Cody though, was confused as he looked at the rest of the Hiroshimas, who shook their heads, or averted their gaze, and to Rafael, who looked torn as if he wanted to tell but didn't at the same time. He knew that they all knew enough Japanese that they should be able to read it.

"They're hiding something," Cody muttered to himself.

Mike glanced at him, as if he heard, but didn't say anything as they continued to walk around Tokyo.

Sydney tugged on the bottom of Rafael's shirt. "Raf-sempai, I told Zack about the thing that you told me, and I could tell that the scripture on the temple was talking about the same thing, from the Japanese that I've studied." He took a breath and continued in his low tone. "But, I didn't tell the others because I wasn't exactly sure if it was going to come true. I believe that it won't…why didn't you tell them?"

"Because, like you I 'm not sure if I believe that it will happen," Rafael replied. "But I also know that I don't want to make them alarmed, I know we should explain what's going on, but I think we should research it a little more. In the mean time, we should probably let Cody know too."

"What if we're wrong?"

"Then we'll just have to deal with it."

* * *

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	3. The Concert Part 1

**Chapter 3 – The Concert Part 1**

"Hey Cody," Rafael said finally, motioning the younger boy over to him. "What did you make of that scripture?"

Cody shrugged. "I can't read Japanese, but from the looks on their faces," Cody motioned towards the Hiroshimas. "It looked like something really interesting."

"It is," Rafael said. With that, he led Cody away from the rest of the group into the corner so he could talk to Cody in private. "I'll tell you want it says, but you gotta promise me you won't tell the others ok?"

"What?" Cody asked, his eyebrows twisting in confusion. "Why?"

Rafael sighed. "It's because those scriptures are predicting something happening tonight. I don't know if it actually will or not, but we'll haveta be extremely careful if it does."

"What do they say?"

Rafael looked at the others before pulling Cody closer to him and lowering his voice. "Basically they predict an interplanetary alignment," Rafael explained. "If that happens, our powers are going to stop working until it's over. Something like this only happens every three thousand years, so I don't really think it will happen."

Cody looked at him, his eyes scanning Rafael's. "Just our powers or everyones?"

"Every elemental," Rafael said.

"How long does it last?"

"According to the scriptures," Rafael said. "Last time it was only temporary, so I'm assuming that this time…if there is a 'this time' it will be the same thing. However the spooky part is time frames in the scriptures tend to be vague, especially when the writing is this old. So 'temporary' can mean anything from an hour or two to-"

"The rest of our lives?" Cody asked, his voice quivering slightly.

"It's possible," Rafael nodded. "But again, I don't think this will actually happen, so that's why I don't want you to tell the others, we don't wanna get them all worked up then have it not happen. I told you and Sydney told Zack because as the two most powerful elementals, the two of you have a right to know. The Hiroshimas also know because they can read Japanese, but as for letting the rest of them know, it's probably best to hold off for now."

Cody nodded as he took in everything Rafael had said. Although most of it sank in rather quickly, something continued to stick out like a sore thumb in Cody's mind. "When did Sydney tell Zack?"

"Yesterday," Rafael said. "At least I think that's what he said."

_I wonder if that's why Zack seems out of it, _Cody thought to himself. _But still, if it was bothering him, why would he keep it from me? Why didn't he tell me it was bothering him?_ "Ok, thanks," Cody said to Rafael before turning to head back towards the others. "I won't tell them," he added before jogging back. Once he did, he pulled Zack back.

"What's up Codes?" Zack asked in a low tone.

"So I guess Sydney told you about something happening tonight?" Cody muttered.

Zack nodded. "Yea he said that we might become normal."

"Was that what was bothering you?"

Zack looked at his brother. "Cody, I told you, nothing's wrong."

"Zack," Cody said. "This is me you're talking to." He looked sternly into his brother's eyes.

Zack sighed. "I'm actually kinda hoping it will happen."

Cody looked at Zack taken slightly aback. "What?"

"Cody," Zack began as he took a deep breath. "Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be normal? No elements, no Wingz Corp, and not having to constantly worry for each other's safety?"

"Um, not really," Cody replied. "Besides if we didn't have our elements, I never would have met Crystal and you never would have met Rikku."

"Maybe," Zack said. "But still, sometimes I think we might just be better off without our powers."

Cody was about to answer, but noticed that the rest of the group were starting to move on. "Come on guys!" Rikku called back to them.

"Don't wanna get left behind do ya?" Crystal said with a smile as she playfully jabbed Cody in the arm. "Just can't keep up can ya?" She added with a chuckle.

"No," Cody replied with a smile. With that, he and Zack jogged up to meet the rest of them.

"So what time is it?" Patrick asked.

"Almost 4," Rikku answered after looking at her watch.

"We should probably get going," Noah said, jumping into the conversation. "We still gotta sync the sound system and the lighting."

"Yea, it's getting late," Rikku said with a nod. "Thanks Raf-san."

"No problem," Rafael said. "Show's at seven?"

"Yep," Rikku replied. "Get there at six though so you can avoid the major crowds."

* * *

"Come on Cody!" Zack called as he rapped on the bathroom door. "How many times do you gotta condition your hair?"

"The bottle says wash, rinse, and repeat," Cody called back over the sound of the shower water.

"Yea and that was an hour ago!" Zack yelled. "I think you've repeated enough times to last until you're thirty!" Suddenly he felt his phone ring. "Ugh! You got till I get off the phone!" Zack walked away from the bathroom and sat down on his bed before picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Zack?" Patrick's voice said. "Where are you guys?"

"Still waiting for dork-zilla to wash, rinse, and repeat," Zack answered saracastically.

"Well hurry up," Patrick said. "Or else you're gonna get stuck in line with everyone else."

"We'll try," Zack answered. "See you guys in a little while, maybe."

"Ok, see ya then."

Zack flipped his phone shut. "Cody! You done yet?"

"Yea!" A moment later, Cody opened the door as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

Zack looked at his brother before rolling his eyes. "You're going dressed like that?"

"Zack this is 100 percent-"

"Save it," Zack said. "I don't wanna miss Rikku 's opening."

Cody rolled his eyes. "I was wondering why your mood suddenly perked up."

"Yea, yea."

Cody was about to answer when he felt his phone ring. "Hey Raf," Cody answered.

"Hey, you guys didn't get lost on your way here did ya?"

"No, we're just leaving now," Cody replied. "We'll see you guys soon."

"You sure you know how to get there?"

"Yea. Its just a few blocks, so it won't be too hard. Besides I can see the building from here."

"Ok, see ya when you get here."

"Ok," Cody said as he hung up the phone. "All right, let's go Zack."

"Bout time."

Cody rolled his eyes.

With that, the twins made their way out of the hotel and towards the concert hall. Looking over the tall buildings around them, the twins could see that the sun had begun to set. Despite the dying daylight however, the streets weren't any less crowded. Keeping their destination in sight, the twins battled their way through the crowds, despite having to constantly say "excuse me," and use each other to stop from crashing into people.

"Almost there," Cody said, as the twins drew close. He ran his hand through his hair.

"Y-yea," Zack agreed. He looked to the side of the building and got an idea. "Hey Codes, let's just avoid the crowds and go in the back way." He motioned towards a door in an alley on the side of the concert hall,

"I dunno Zack," Cody said. "Pat said just to go in the front way. Besides, it's probably locked."

"Well if it is we can just call them to let us in," Zack said, rolling his eyes.

"Zack, it's almost seven," Cody answered rolling his eyes. "The Hiroshimas are probably just getting ready to go on stage."

"So then we better hurry up!" With that, Zack bolted in the direction of the side door.

"Za-ugh!" Cody shrugged with a roll of his eyes. Getting a feeling that Zack's plan wasn't going to end well, Cody took off after his brother. When Zack got to the door, he tried it. Cody shook his head when he realized that Zack figured out that the door was locked. "Told you!"

"Well no big deal," Zack said. "I'll just call them." With that Zack dug his hand throughout his pocket searching for his phone.

"Well, well, look what we have here," A voice suddenly said behind the twins. Zack and Cody turned around to face Koto and Rilian. "Long time no see."

"Looks like they've grown," Koto said with a smile.

"Great," Cody muttered. "What do you two want?" Cody said.

"Oh nothing much," Rilian sneered. "Just we missed you guys. Been too long."

"Not long enough actually," Cody snapped back. He tapped Zack on the shoulder. "Uh, Zack, we got company."

Zack looked up. "Great, I thought we finally rid of you guys."

"Ah, that hurts," Koto said. "But probably not as much as this will." With that, he and Rilian both launched into action against the twins.

* * *

"You guys seen Zack and Cody yet?" Noah asked as he flung his instrument strap over his shoulder.

"No," Crystal said. "But they'll be here soon. Anyway, we gotta get to our seats, good luck guys. Break a leg."

"Why would we do that?" Patrick asked. Noah rolled his eyes while Sydney, who had over heard them, just slapped his forehead and shook his head.

Crystal quickly made her way back into the audience and stood by Max, Tapeworm, Rafael, Mike, and Julius. A second later, various clouds of smoke filled the stage as the stage lights flashed in every direction, creating long beams of light. Several lasers of various colors also shot out in all directions, stretching over the stage and the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, coming to you tonight live in Tokyo, it's our pleasure to introduce THE DARKELEMENTS!"

At the sound of the announcer's voice, the lasers all centered on the middle of the stage and formed a huge "DE." A half second later, there was a mini explosion that created another cloud of smoke. The audience then screamed as Rikku and Rumiku leapt out of the smoke with their guitars. Both of them slammed a few notes before taking their place at their microphones.

(Rikku)

**I see nothing in your eyes, and the more I see the less I like.  
**

(Rikku and Rumiku)  
**Is it over yet, in my head?**

(Rumiku)  
**I know nothing of your kind, and I won't reveal your evil mind.**

(Both)  
**Is it over yet? I can't win.**

(All)  
**So sacrifice yourself, and let me have what's left.  
I know that I can find the fire in your eyes.  
I'm going all the way, get away, please.**

**You take the breath right out of me.  
You left a hole where my heart should be.  
You got to fight just to make it through,  
'cause I will be the death of you.**

(Rumiku)  
**This will be all over soon.  
Pour salt into the open wound.**

(Rikku and Rumiku)

**Is it over yet? Let me in.  
**

All)  
**So sacrifice yourself, and let me have what's left.  
I know that I can find the fire in your eyes.  
I'm going all the way, get away, please.**

**You take the breath right out of me.  
You left a hole where my heart should be.  
You got to fight just to make it through,**

(Rumiku)

**'cause I will be the death of you.  
**

**(Instrumental Bridge: Rikku and Rumiku slam several bars on their guitars)**

(Rikku)  
**I'm waiting, I'm hating, realize, start HIDING!**

(All)  
**You take the breath right out of me.**  
**You left a hole where my heart should be.  
You got to fight just to make it through,**

(Rikku and Rumiku)

**'cause I will be the death of you!**

"Hey Crys," Max said over the yells, screams and cheers that were erupting from the crowd all around them. "Hear from Zack and Cody yet?"

Crystal shook her head. "Raf said they were on their way."

"They were when I talked to them," Rafael said, shrugging his shoulders. "They're probably stuck in line still. I can still see people coming in."

"Yea probably," Max muttered. With that, she turned back to the stage.

* * *

**Song Credit: "Breath" - Breaking Benjamin. Please Read and Review.**


	4. The Concert Part 2

**Chapter 4 – The Concert Part 2**

"Oh come on," Zack made a whining sound as he backed away from Koto, far enough so that he would be able to see it if Koto tried to attack him again. "Couldn't you just wait to fight us in another…" He grabbed Cody's arm, momentarily stopping him from attacking Rilian, and looked at his watch. "Another two hours? We have somewhere to be right now."

"Zack, let go!" Cody cried and shoved his brother's hand off his arm and ducked out of the way just in time as Rilian went flying over his head trying to punch him in the face.

"Nah, I think you guys missed us too much to want to back out of it now," Koto replied with a smirk and cracked his knuckles before taking off his black leather jacket. "I think we need to catch up on the two years that we've been away."

"God, I hope Rikk doesn't kill me for this." Zack muttered under his breath before focusing on his power. Flames erupted around his arms and he fell into a fighting stance as Koto's green eyes flicked across Zack and around the surrounding area, as if he was searching for a good place to start and attack.

Koto's wolfish eyes sharpened when he heard what Zack said and a snarl escaped from his mouth before jumped up high into the air. Zack tilted his head back to see where Koto was going and fell for the trap. As Koto is not one for waiting something patiently, he had used his speed to make it seem like he had jumped into the air. But he had in fact, moved so fast that he had jumped into the air, landed back on the ground and kicked Zack in the back, before he realized what was going on.

Koto smirked and rolled his neck, cracking sounds audible as he watched Zack scramble to his knees. "You know, you'd figure that after two years, you would have actually gotten better." He let out a little chuckle and shook his head, his blonde hair falling into his green eyes. He brushed his hair away from his shoulder and tilted his head to the side in a pitying way, a small pout on his lips. "Or maybe you've been too careless and have forgotten your fighting instincts already?" he smirked and cracked his knuckles again. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to fight _well_."

"I'm just getting started." Zack replied as he spun around on the spot before aiming a blazing kick towards Koto's chest. Koto took a couple of steps back, crouched low and then charged forward, knocking into Zack's side. Zack fell over and rolled to the side as Koto slammed his heel down onto the ground. "Is that all your got?"

As Koto tried to slam his heel down onto Zack's face, Zack grabbed Koto's foot and flipped him into his back. Zack got back up to his feet and waited for a second before launching an attack at Koto again.

Cody cried out in pain as he stumbled back and crashed into one of the walls of the alley. He gasped and ducked as Rilian aimed another punch towards his head. He could hear the concrete wall cracking over his head and small bits of dust sprinkled down onto his head. Cody rolled forward in a somersault through Rilian's legs and got back up into a fighting stance, his fists up next to his face, getting ready for a fight, just in case Rilian was going to throw a sneak attack.

He looked down at his fists, and then back up at Rilian and let out a chuckle as he concentrated on his energy. His hands glowed blue and the energy waved around his hands like water was moving over his hands. He took a step back and cupped his hands together before taking a step forward and shot out a pulse of water.

Rilian crouched low to the ground and turned into a wolf, his teeth bared and drool dripping out of his lips. Cody took another step back, kind of intimidated as he hasn't seen any of the BlackWolves turn into their wolf forms for a long time.

Cody looked over at Zack and saw that Koto had the upper hand against his brother, something he thought was really odd. Normally, he and Zack would have gotten Koto and Rilian to retreat by now, but something was wrong. It was as if…their elements were getting weaker.

"Zack," Cody called, worry evident in his voice.

"I know, I'm thinking the same thing." Zack replied, and instinctively he looked up at the moon. Cody did the same. The two gasped when they saw two other glowing orbs, which Cody concluded to be planets, almost completely covering the moon. Koto and Rilian, who noticed that Zack and Cody looked distracted and looked up at the moon too.

As they watched, the planets moved across the moon and a shadow was cast across the earth. Zack looked over at Cody, ready to say something, and saw that his brother was glowing in a brilliant blue light. Zack then looked down at his hands and saw that his body was glowing red too. He looked over at Koto and Rilian and saw that they were glowing.

_Oh no, the…the scripture is coming true,_ Zack thought to himself as he felt himself getting weaker and weaker.

Cody fell to his knees as he also felt his strength weakening. The only time he could vaguely remember being that weak was before he had become an elemental. _Phantom…are you…there_? Cody tried to contact his guardian, but all he heard was a weak eagle call followed by silence. Cody stared at his hands as the light faded away. He struggled to his feet and looked at his brother grimly, knowing what it meant.

The scripture…the prophecy had come true. They weren't elementals anymore…

* * *

"All right," Rumiku said into her microphone as she paced back and forth across the stage, shielding her eyes from the numerous flashes from cameras. "We're going to catch our breaths and take a little break while the backup band plays for you guys for a bit. Then we're going to come back out and do our last few songs."

"Wow, this night went by pretty fast," Sydney added as he waved to the crowd.

"Now, usually we wouldn't do that," Rikku added as she brought her microphone up to her mouth. "But because Sydney is so young and the whole labor law thing, although I'm not entirely too sure what that has to do with anything, we'll be back on in about ten minutes."

"So, until then," Patrick breathed out heavily and pulled his microphone away from his mouth and laughed a little bit as the cheering reached a whole new octave.

"No, no, no, don't do that, his ego will swell even more than it already is," Noah laughed.

"Yeah, you see the size of his head," Sydney added, getting in on the jokes. "Don't make it any bigger."

"Anyway," Patrick said sharply and lightly kicked his twin in the lower back. "Chat amongst yourselves, although you probably don't want to do that as they're a really great backup band. We'll see you in a few minutes."

As soon as the Hiroshimas got to their dressing room, they noticed Crystal sitting on one of the couches, biting her finger nails.

"Something's wrong," Rikku commented as she grabbed a towel off of the back of her chair and plopped down into it. "What? Zack and Cody didn't make it?" She let out a groan of annoyance when Sydney practically threw himself across her lap.

"You noticed that too?" Noah asked after taking a large sip of water. "I figured they would have been there by now."

"Of course she noticed that," Rumiku snorted as she walked behind the couch and rested her hands on it. "He's her boyfriend for crying out loud." She smirked at her sister, amusement written in her eyes. "You're pissed off, aren't you?"

"Not at all," Rikku replied and crushed a plastic water bottle in her hand and flipped her sister off with the other.

"Explains the fact that you're biting your nails off," Patrick added as he looked over at his cousin. "You're worried about Cody and the whole-" he stopped talking when he had a feeling of his energy draining away.

Noah and the others must have felt it too because all of a sudden then grabbed onto the chairs or couches that they were sitting on or were close to. Crystal looked up sharply, her blue eyes wide. Everybody started to glow their respective aura colors. The light grew brighter and brighter and finally it faded away.

Crystal studied each of her cousins. Rikku was slumped over Sydney, rubbing her forehead. Sydney looked like he was falling asleep. Rumiku was holding onto the back of the couch so hard that her knuckles were turning white. Patrick looked like he was concentrating so hard to stay standing up. Noah looked braced himself against one of the walls as he felt like his knees were going to give out.

Crystal took a deep breath before speaking. "You don't think the scripture was right do you?" she asked. "About the whole planets align and your element disappears thing?"

"Nothing else could explain that sudden feeling of weakness that you just got," Sydney pointed out as he rubbed his forehead. "Wow, I feel really weird." He suddenly got out of Rikku's lap and jumped to the floor. His eyes were wide with fright and determination. "Quick, someone try to contact their guardian."

"What's going on?" Maddie asked as she and the others burst into the dressing room. Sydney let out a sigh of annoyance at having not been able to test if their elements were really gone. He also knew that the others wouldn't have come into their dressing room unless there was a really big problem.

"You mean Julius didn't tell you…" Patrick started to ask but then stopped when she saw the look on Julius' face as he made a cutting motion across this throat. "Oh," He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." He blinked in confusion and then pointed at Maddie. "Wait, where did you go when the concert began?"

"Oh, I was looking for Zack and Co-"

"That doesn't matter right now!" Max jumped into the conversation with her usual lack of tact. "What we need to do is to figure out what we're going to do and how to find Zack and Cody."

"No, what matters is that not everybody knows what's going on right now," Mike jumped into the conversation, looking annoyed.

"Oh by that, you mean everybody except you, knows what's going on?" Rikku raised an eyebrow. "Gee, that's a shock" she added sarcastically.

"Rikkula now's not the time for jokes." Julius warned.

"Sorry." She muttered under her breath.

"Long story short," Rafael stated patiently. "This hasn't happened in probably the past 3000 years or something like that. But what happens is there's a planetary alignment with the moon and elementals lose their powers."

"For how long?" Tapeworm questioned.

"No one knows," Rafael replied with a shrug. "Could be hours, days, weeks, or even longer."

"Wait, so what are we going to do about this?" Alan asked as he tilted his head to the side. "What if Wingz Corp uses this time and 'just-so-happens,' to bump into us one day."

"We'll be fine," Sydney said pointing to his siblings and his cousin. "The rest of you will be sitting ducks though."

"Do you think that happened to Zack and Cody?" Ryan asked, changing the subject. "I mean, it shouldn't take them _this long_ to get to the concert hall if you could see it from the hotel."

"I was thinking the same thing." Julius admitted. He let out a heavy sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "Ok, Rafael and I'll go and-"

"No," Noah interrupted firmly. "Patrick and I'll go help them, I have a feeling that the only reason that we didn't know that they were in trouble before, if they are, is because they ran into it pretty much as soon as our elements went away."

"Wait a minute, what about the rest of your show?" Max asked as she motioned in the direction it was. "I don't think you want a riot of a lot of Japanese people."

"I don't think that you're going to change their minds." Mike said after a second of staring at their faces.

"No, Max is right, what about the rest of our show?" Rumiku asked as she placed her hands on her hips and looked at them intently.

Patrick flinched and took a step back when he noticed her glare on him and let out a little nervous chuckle. "Just get the backup band to fill our places, we'll explain at our next venue." He turned to his twin. "C'mon Noah."

Noah nodded shortly and followed his brother out of the dressing room and out of the concert hall.

Rikku looked at her watch before she grabbed her guitar again. "Well, we have to finish the rest of the show."

"Should we really go on with Patrick and Noah?" Sydney asked as he quickly retied his shoes and grabbed his violin.

"If that's what they want, then we're just going to have to believe that they can handle it," Rumiku replied and also grabbed her guitar. She looked up at the others that were blocking the way. "Kind of need to get back onstage." She said with a wave of her hand.

Still looking anxious and curious, the group of friends hurried out of the dressing room and the Hiroshimas hurried back on stage.

"Ok," Rikku said as she adjusted her microphone and moved her guitar in front of her. "We only have a few songs left, and one of the ones that we're going to play is one of the first ones we have ever performed."

"We owe it all to a band from Jacksonville, Florida who had come together as a band and have made this song," Sydney added.

"This song is called Way Away." Rumiku finished and adjusted her guitar before they started playing.

(Rikku)

**I think I'm breaking out****  
I'm gonna leave you now****  
There's nothing for me here, it's all the same****  
And even though I know ****  
That everything might go****  
Go downhill from here, I'm not afraid**

* * *

Zack stumbled into Cody as he fought to catch his breath. He now had a black eye and a couple of other bruises and was breathing heavily. Cody's hair was messed up, his shirt was torn, he had a cut on his cheek, and a few bruises on his chest and legs. The two were barely able to hold each other up.

Both Koto and Rilian knew that Zack and Cody really weren't that strong without their powers. Koto smirked over at Rilian and Rilian nodded back at him, stretching his legs and falling into another fighting stance.

"This will be a piece of cake," Koto muttered under his breath. "They can hardly stay awake."

"Let's just get this over with, and get back to Wingz Corp," Rilian replied and held pulled a long rope out of his pocket and snapped it together. "Finally we'll have them out of the way so we can get to the fountain-"

"Shh!" Koto interrupted and started forward.

"Back off!"

Patrick ran in front of Koto and reared back on his left leg, kicking Koto in the chest with his right. Koto gasped in surprise as he went stumbling backwards. Rilian glared and threw the rope at Patrick, trying to tie him up, but Noah ducked in the way and held his arm up. The rope tied around his arm and he pulled it back, jerking the rope out of Rilian's hand.

"You might as well give up now because you're going to lose," Noah chuckled and did a back flip to dodge a punch that Rilian aimed towards his head. Getting up, he grabbed onto Rilian's arm and kneed him in the stomach before flipping him over onto his back with a ninja cry.

Patrick and Koto's hands were locked on each other's wrists as they tried to knock each other over. All of a sudden, Patrick got an idea and smirked evilly. Koto looked confused and then let out a cry of pain as Patrick's forehead smashed into his own. The wolf-hybrid stumbled backwards, holding onto his face as s trickle of blood fell out of his hair line.

He let out a growl and shook his head, the little drops of blood splashing off of his head. "Let's get out of here!" He commanded Rilian.

"What about-"

"We'll get to…" he paused and looked over at Zack and Cody before lowering his voice. "_The place_ and make sure we stop them from getting there."

"All right," Rilian finally agreed and then made a noise of annoyance as he and Koto started to run off.

"You guys ok?" Noah asked as he pulled Zack to his feet.

"Yeah, we're fine," Cody replied a curious look on his face. "They said something about a fountain."

"Do you think that there's a significant reason for that?" Patrick asked doubtfully. "I mean, there's about a thousand fountains in the whole world. What would they need a fountain for?" he shook his head. "Never mind, let's just get you back to the hotel."

"What about the concert?" Zack asked suddenly.

Noah snorted. "By the time that we get you medical attention and then get you back to the concert hall, it's going to be over. So you might as well forget it."

Zack let out a little groan and hung his head.

"Rikk's going to kill you isn't she?" Patrick asked and then nodded as Zack made a whining sound of agreement. "That's what I thought."

* * *

**Please Read and Review**


	5. The Truth

**Chapter 5 – The Truth**

"Will you sit still?" Patrick asked Zack in a voice filled with increasing frustration. He rolled his eyes as he tried for a third time to put a bandage on a cut on Zack's cheek.

"Can you blame me?" Zack said shortly. "You put half the bottle of peroxide on those, and news flash…that stuff burns!"

Patrick rolled his eyes. "Suck it up," he said as he slapped the bandage on with slightly more force than was needed. He smiled devilishly as Zack shot him a look. "There, you're all set." Patrick said as he hopped down off the chair he had been setting on. "Hey Noah, you done with the ice pack?" Noah, who was tending to Cody, nodded. "Put it that eye for fifteen minutes," Patrick commanded Zack as he motioned at Zack's black eye. "That should keep the swelling down."

"Yea, you guys definitely got messed up," Noah said to Cody as the older boy handed him the ice pack he had been resting against his head. "I don't think I've seen you guys get beat this bad since you first got your elements."

"Thanks," Cody muttered. He tried to shift himself in his chair into a more comfortable position but ended up groaning from the resulting pain. "That's going to hurt tomorrow," Cody said, half to himself. "I just hope this planetary alignment ends soon. "

"Why?" Zack asked, straightening up and turning towards Cody. "So you can have your element back?" Cody shrugged in response. Zack looked at him for a second before continuing. "Sometimes I wish we never had those stupid elements. I mean seriously, they're the whole reason why we're sitting here all beat up rather than enjoying the concert."

"Actually, you're sitting here all beat up because you didn't have your elements," Patrick pointed out, drawing a look from Zack. A second later, Patrick pulled out his phone noticing that he had gotten a text from Rikku saying they were on their way back.

Zack's face darkened. "Well, we never would have been attacked in the first place if we didn't have those stupid elements. I hope this planetary align-thingy lasts the rest of my life. I'm done with this crap! I just want to be a normal kid again and not have to worry about being attacked everywhere I go!"

Both Patrick and Noah just looked at Zack as if unsure to what to say. Cody also looked up at his twin. "You can't be serious," Noah said finally.

"Yes I am!" Zack replied.

"He's probably just mad he missed the concert," Patrick muttered to Noah's ear.

"I heard that," Zack said, causing each of the twins to chuckle nervously.

"Just calm down Zack," Cody said, stepping in. "Snapping at them isn't going to help anything."

"Makes me feel better," Zack muttered to no one in particular.

* * *

"So I guess they never showed up?" Crystal asked Rikku and Rumiku as the put their last few things into their bags.

"Nope," Rikku said in a voice that showed her obvious annoyance.

"Cody never showed up either," Rumiku said. "Pat and Noah didn't make it back either."

"Musta been something big," Crystal said after looking thoughtful for a moment. She looked at Rikku. "So I guess you can't really hold that against Zack. I'm sure both him and Cody wanted to be there."

"So you're saying I shouldn't be mad?" Rikku replied tone full of sarcasm.

"You can be mad all you want," Rumiku said. "Just not at him. Even though it is Zack, I'm sure this time he had a valid reason."

"Seriously," Crystal said. "He and Cody flew all the way out here just for the concert and then blow it off? Sounds kinda strange."

Rikku nodded. "True," she said at last. She then looked thoughtful for a second. "I guess you got a point, so then why do you think they weren't there?"

"Dunno," Crystal replied. "I guess we'll find out when we get back to the hotel." In her mind, thoughts about Cody ran through her brain. Although she tried not to show it, the fact that Patrick and Noah never came back with him and Zack scared her. "Although I wonder if Wingz Corp knew about his planetary thingy also."

Both Rikku and Rumiku stopped and looked at her. "Possible," Rumiku said finally.

* * *

"Zack you aren't serious about never wanting your element back," Cody asked. "Are you?"

Before Zack could answer, the hotel room door burst open. Looking over, the kids saw Crystal and the rest of Patrick and Noah's siblings walk in. Crystal walked over to Cody and checked him over.

Rikku walked over to Zack. She looked at the various bruises and cuts on Zack as she approached him. A moment later her eyes fell on his black eye before looking at the group again. "I guess you guys really got worked over," Rikku said finally.

Zack was about to answer, but Noah beat him to it. "They were attacked by Koto and Rilian," Noah said, looking over at his sister. "Both of them were losing pretty badly when we got there."

"What'd they want?" Crystal asked.

"Who knows?" Patrick said with a shrug. "But they said something about trying to get to a fountain."

"Fountain?" Crystal repeated with a raised eyebrow.

Patrick shrugged. "Yea, wonder what they could want with a fountain?" He looked at his eldest brother for a possible answer.

"I'll see if Rafael might know anything," Julius said with a shrug. "But you got me." With that he pulled out his phone and texted the message to Rafael.

"Hey Rik," Zack said, looking up at her. "Guess you're not mad about the concert?"

"Do I have a choice?" Rikku replied, causing Zack to grin slightly.

"Uh…no," Zack said as he massaged. A moment later, Patrick motioned to Zack that it had been fifteen minutes since he last put the ice pack on and to take it off. Zack nodded as he set the ice pack down. He just stared at it for a second. Along with the physical pain he felt, anger at the fact that he was an elemental surged through him. _If I wasn't an elemental none of this would have happened. My brother wouldn't be beat up right now, I wouldn't be beat up, and we all would have been just enjoying the concert like normal teens._ The thoughts continued to circle around in Zack's mind, causing his hands to shake violently.

"Zack you ok?" Rikku asked when she saw this.

"Uh you mean aside from the fact that he's all beat up?" Patrick said, but quickly shut his mouth when Rikku shot him a dark look. "Just saying…" he finished in a quieter voice.

"I know he's beat up!" Rikku said. "But I can obviously tell there's something else there too."

Zack looked at Rikku, knowing that his face told the whole story even though he didn't want to tell Rikku just yet.

"Well he did say earlier that he didn't want an element anymore," Patrick said. "But I think-"

"What?" Rikku said. "Back up a second."

Zack took a deep breath. "R-Rik," Zack said looking at her, knowing that it was useless to try to hide it any longer. She would eventually coerce it out of him one way or another, so he figured for once it might be better to get this over with.

Rikku read Zack's eyes and expression. "W-what? Zack how could-"

"It's just," Zack said before taking a breath. "I want to be normal again. As in no elements, just a normal kid"

"What do you mean be 'normal'?" Rikku asked in a slightly offended tone. She also drew several looks from everyone in the room due to the elevated volume of her voice.

"Well, you know, everybody normal," Zack said as if it were obvious. He remembered what happened the last time he and Rikku had had this conversation so he tried to pick his words carefully.

"Wow, normally that's her and Mike," Patrick muttered to Noah, who nodded with a slight chuckle.

Looking over, Julius could see where the conversation between Zack and Rikku was going and quickly intervened. "All right you two," Julius said. "Don't make me have to separate you also. Anyway I heard back from Rafael and he thinks he might know what Koto and Rilian meant."

"What?" Cody said in response. He had pretty much been silent up to this point except for his conversation with Crystal explaining to her that he was fine and he looked worse than he felt. Crystal shook her head the whole time however, not really buying any of it.

"Well," Julius said. "Rafael said he doesn't know for sure and has to read through the prophecy more. But he did mention that last time this happened, the gateway to a very powerful elemental item opened up. He said it's called the 'Fountain of Lost Souls.'"

"What does it do?" Sydney asked as he joined the conversation.

Julius shook his head. "I don't know, he didn't tell me."

"I'll bet anything that's what Koto and Rilian were talking about," Cody said. He looked thoughtful for a second. "The Fountain of Lost Souls…whatever it is, we gotta get to it before they do!" With that he quickly got up, causing a bolt of pain to surge through him, forcing him to sit back down. Crystal also helped him get back down into the chair before shooting him a 'you should have known better' look.

Julius shook his head again. "You're not getting anything before anyone tonight except some rest," Julius said in a firm tone. "By the looks of things, you've already had a full night."

"But-"

"That's final."

After a round of groans, the kids all complied and headed to their respective hotel rooms.

* * *

Cody continued to lay awake, staring at the ceiling. He had tried in vain various times to get to sleep. Despite his best efforts thoughts about Wingz Corp, their lost elements, and what Julius had said Rafael mentioned continued to swirl in his mind, serving him with the same effect as a double expresso shot that was filled with caffine. _Fountain of Lost Souls? _ Cody thought to himself. _Whatever it is, I know there's gotta be some reason why Wingz Corp is after it. It probably has something to do with this planetary alignment…why else would they show up out of nowhere all of a sudden?_

Along with these thoughts, there was else that didn't sit right with Cody. Of all the people to come his and Zack's aid, why was it Patrick and Noah? Without even thinking, Cody reached over to the end table, grabbed his phone, and sent Noah a text.

Cody**: Hey, you still awake?**

Noah**: Yea, couldn't sleep either?**

Cody**: Nope.**

Noah:** Meet me and Patrick in the hall in 5 minutes, we got something to tell you.**

Cody: **What is it?**

Noah: **Just be there, we'll tell ya then. It's about the Fountain of Lost Souls.**

Cody: **Ok, see ya then.**

Cody sighed deeply to himself as he snapped the phone shut. _What could Noah or Patrick possibly know about something like that?_ Cody wondered to himself as he climbed out of bed.

"Cody?" Cody looked over and saw Zack roll over with one open. "Where you going?" Zack asked in a sleepy voice.

"Can't sleep," Cody replied. "I'm just gonna step outside. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"O-ok," Zack said with a yawn as he rolled over again. A few seconds later, he was fast asleep.

"Goodnight Zack," Cody muttered softly as he walked quietly towards the door. "Get some sleep." After slipping on his sneakers, Cody silently crept toward the door and softly shut it behind him. Once outside his room, Cody looked around for Patrick and Noah. "Noah? Pat?" Cody asked in a somewhat suspicious tone as he looked around.

"Psst! Over here."

Cody looked over and saw Patrick and Noah sitting near the wall at the end of the corridor. "Hey guys," Cody whispered as he knelt down next to the twins. He eyed each of them. "What's going on?"

Noah took a deep breath. "Well," he said in a hushed tone. "As I'm sure you know this isn't the first time this has happened. When this happens, the gateway to the Fountain of Lost Souls opens."

"I know," Cody said. "Julius told us earlier."

Patrick and Noah nodded. "Yea, except this is something we already knew," Patrick said.

"What?" Cody asked, taken aback by the affirmation in Patrick's voice. "How?"

Noah shook his head. "That doesn't matter right now," he said. "Here's the main thing, the Fountain of Lost Souls is very powerful, but also very dangerous. It's water can restore an elemental, and make him or her a lot more powerful than he or she was before."

Cody nodded his understanding listening intently.

"But," Noah continued. "There is a catch. Whoever becomes greedy and tries to take more than a single drink will not only lose their element forever, but possibly their soul as well, depending on how much they took."

"That's why it's called the 'Fountain of Lost Souls,'" Cody said, piecing everything together. "What happens to their body, do they just die?"

"No one knows," Patrick said. "The last time the pathway to it was open was a very long time ago."

"Would Rafael know?"

"Doubtful," Noah said. "I don't even think he knows as much as we do about it."

"Which brings me back to my question," Cody said. "How do you two know so much about it? Especially when none of your other siblings do?"

"Again," Noah said with a slightly darkening look. "You'll know when the time is right. Right now is not the right time."

"Ok," Cody said with a sigh. "Where is this thing anyway? Do you guys know?"

"The fountain is located inside a place called the Forest of Illusion," Patrick answered. "Again you can't even get to the forest unless this alignment happens, and even then that's tricky. So if you're going to through all the trouble of getting to the Fountain, then getting greedy and not heeding its warning, you gotta be the biggest idiot alive."

Cody's head was spinning. Not only had he never seen Patrick this knowledgeable about anything, but he also had never seen either of the twins like this. Along with that, the facts about the fountain they told him continued to spin in his head.

"Anyway, get some sleep," Noah said. "I'll bet anything that Wingz Corp is gonna try to get there."

Cody looked from Noah to Patrick and back. Nodding along with a sigh, he agreed and got back up. The twins followed suit and headed back to their room. There was so much more he wanted to know but knew there was a good chance they probably were done telling him information for now. "Fountain of Lost Souls…" Cody muttered to himself again as he ran over everything they had told him again in his mind. "If Wingz Corp is after it, I hope we find it first…" Finally Cody got back to his room, climbed into bed, and fell into a light, yet troubled slumber.

* * *

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	6. Going to Fight or Going Home

**Chapter 6 – Going to Fight or Going Home**

The early morning found Julius and Maddie in the hotel's lobby; Julius was staring at a computer screen and Maddie was walking over to him with two mugs in her hand.

"Here you go." Maddie handed Julius a mug of hot chocolate and sat down on the couch next to him, curling her feet under her body. She took a sip of the liquid that was in her cup and tilted her head to the side as she looked at her boyfriend. "Are you ok? You have a very concerned look on your face."

"I know," Julius sighed and reached forward, closing the lid to his computer. "I have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that we all lost our elements," Julius started to count off on his fingers. "I'm pretty sure that we're going to be attacked again because WingzCorp knows that, Rikku and Zack are starting to fight, there's this thing called the Fountain of Lost Souls I'm pretty sure they're going to go after-"

"Wait," Maddie held up a hand, cutting him off. "What's the Fountain of Lost Souls?"

"Trust me; we're going to go over this as soon as everybody is awake." Julius replied tiredly as he rubbed his eyes. "It's a lot to go through and I'm sure that there's going to be a lot of questions asked. Some that I might not even be able to answer."

Maddie nodded and the two sat in silence as it was probably one of the few times that they had silence to sit in. Sure enough, twenty minutes later Zack, Cody, and the rest of their friends were charging into the hotel lobby, shouting and asking questions, all overlapping each other, which just caused everything to seem even louder than before. Panicked at the thought that they could be thrown out of the hotel, Julius looked around at the staff of the hotel, who was looking back at him with disdain and he started to wave his arms around frantically.

"Quiet please," Rafael's calm voice caused everybody to stop talking and watched as he approached them. He turned to the staff and said something in Japanese, with a little bow, before turning back to his friends. "You must know that the Japanese don't like a lot of noise." He gave an easygoing smile. "Unless, of course, they're participating in a game show."

"Hey Raf-san." Rikku greeted politely and gave a little bow herself before sitting on the floor and pulling Sydney onto her lap and wrapping her arms around him. "Are you going to tell us more about the Fountain of Lost Souls?"

"Yes, I am." He replied and cleared his throat nervously. "But I can't really say much, as I don't know a lot about it."

"Just tell us what you _do_ know," Tapeworm suggested. "I mean, with everything that we've been through, there's always going to be questions."

"You got that right," Max agreed with a nod.

"Ok," Rafael let out a small breath before turning to face everybody. "I think everybody already knows about the planetary alignment and-"

"Yeah, yeah, we know that already," Mike cut in impatiently. "What's up with the fountain?"

"Shh!" Rumiku reached over and lightly hit him on the back of the head and he fell silent, waiting.

"With the planetary alignment all of the elementals in the world lose their powers." Rafael continued as if Mike didn't even interrupt him. "I don't know for how long and I'm not exactly sure how everything meshes together like that, but what I do know is that when the planets align, the way to the Fountain of Lost Souls is open."

"But what's the-"

"The Fountain of Lost Souls is a fountain, obviously. But what it does depends on the person that takes a drink from it." Rafael continued effectively cutting off Crystal before she could interrupt him. "Its water can restore an elemental, and make him or her a lot more powerful than he or she was before. But whoever becomes greedy and tries to take more than a single drink will not only lose their element forever, but possibly their soul as well, depending on how much they too."

"That's what Patrick and Noah said to me last night," Cody muttered to himself as he rubbed his chin. Noah, who was sitting next to him, stiffened a little bit hoping that no one else had heard what Cody ad just said. He looked around at everybody that was around him, but when his gaze fell on Julius and Rafael, it seemed that they already knew something that the others didn't.

And that worried him.

"So, where _is_ the Fountain of Lost Souls?" Rikku spoke up. "'Cause, it's not going to help us if WingzCorp is going after it and they get it before we do because we don't know where it is."

"From what I can understand, the fountain is somewhere in Japan, but where exactly is going to be hard to find out." Rafael replied.

"So, how hard is this going to be?" Zack asked as he jumped to his feet. "Let's call up our guardians and look around."

"In case you've forgotten," Rikku sneered. "You're not an elemental anymore." She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Just like you wanted." She added coolly. Zack let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead as he sat back on the ground.

"It's not going to be that easy, Zack." Julius warned him. Zack snorted his disbelief and Julius raised his eyebrows in a challenging way before continuing with his explanation. "I mean no offense, but you and Cody I would have to say should be the last ones who are going to look for it."

"I agree," Rafael nodded and then scanned the group that were sitting in front of them. "I'd have to say that Patrick and Noah would be good people to go and look for it."

Julius nodded. "Sydney too."

"What?" Crystal cried in confusion as her eyes grew wide. "You can't be serious."

"Actually," Rafael sighed grimly. "I am being serious."

"But if they can go, why can't we?" Ryan asked as he motioned between him and Alan. "I mean, it makes as much sense for us to go as them. Even though the Hiroshimas and Crystal are the most fit, it doesn't mean that we can't help."

"But why us?" Sydney asked as he pointed to himself, his blue eyes looking even wider than usual. "What can we do to help?"

"We don't even know where we're going," Patrick added in a somewhat unconvincing voice.

"I know, none of us are really sure where we're going," Maddie admitted. "But Patrick, Noah, and Sydney, there's something about them that the rest of us didn't know…and unfortunately I can't tell you, neither can Julius or Rafael, they have to figure it out for themselves." She smiled at her friends sadly. "But I think that you should give them a chance."

"Well, I'm going too." Cody stated.

Crystal turned to look at him, worry evident in her eyes. "Cody, are you sure about this?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I mean, you're not really that physically fit as it is."

"I know that," Cody admitted, albeit his cheeks turning red. "But that doesn't mean that I can just sit here and watch everything happening." His eyes suddenly brightened. "Maybe you should go back home with your dad."

"Excuse me?"

"No, not like that," Cody quickly explained. "I mean, maybe your dad knows what's going on? It would be better if we had someone back home that could help us, rather than being stuck in Japan, wondering what's going on."

"Well, I would feel better if Zack went along with them." Max replied.

"Why?" Rikku cut in before Zack could defend himself.

"Ok, could you put your fight on pause for a moment so no feelings get in the way," Mike suggested as his face held a look of annoyance. "I think Max is making sense too. It would be better if Zack and Cody went with them, I mean, they're the strongest elementals out of all of us, even if they aren't ones right now," he shot a look at Rikku and Zack, as if challenging them to say something. But surprisingly, the two stayed silent. "I would feel better knowing that those two were going."

"What will the rest of us do?" Tapeworm questioned.

"Well," Julius rubbed his chin. "I think Cody's idea of some of us going home is a good idea, but some of us should stay here too."

"I wouldn't mind going home." Maddie offered. "Besides, I would have to give some excuse to Carey that she would believe about her sons being back in Japan while I came back without them."

"Ok, so who else will go home?" Rafael asked, looking around.

"I might as well," Crystal spoke up although she didn't really seem to like the idea. "I guess I'll be able to help my dad, possibly be able to make new communication devices, rather than our watches."

"I'm going to stay here in Japan," Mike added. "I think it would be a good idea to have some strong people stay back at the hotel just in case."

"Max, Tape, Ru, Rikk, what about you guys?" Maddie asked the other four gently. "I'm not putting pressure on you guys, but we need to have this decision done quickly."

"I'm going to stay here." Max declared with a small, defiant grin. "There's no way I'm going to miss something like this."

"I'm with Max," Rumiku concurred after a few seconds of thinking.

"Then I'm going to go back." Tapeworm decided after a second. "I could help Crystal and her father, plus, you guys are going to need my smarts for something."

"Tape, we always need you for something." Cody told his friend as he placed a hand on his shoulder fondly. Tapeworm smiled and shook his head, returning the gesture with a little laugh.

"Well, what about you, Rikk?" Patrick asked as he turned and looked at his oldest sister. Rikku stared at him for a moment before looking over at Zack, who looked back at her with a sad expression in his eyes.

"I think…" she trailed off as she stalled for time, weighing the pros and cons in her head before coming to a final decision. "I'm going to go back home."

"Are you sure?" Julius asked, momentarily stunned. He didn't really expect his sister, the one that would usually like to laugh in the face of danger, even death, go back home.

"Yeah, I'm positive." Rikku replied with a short nod and then paused for a second before speaking up again. "But I think that we should go back home tomorrow, at the earliest flight then."

"Why?" Crystal asked in confusion. "Wouldn't it be better if we left as early as possible today?"

"Not if we're going to have to train Zack and Cody so they can stand up against anything that could possibly happen," Rikku replied, shaking her head. "And trust me that may take a while."

"I actually agree with her on that one," Rafael commented with a nod. "We should prepare all of them for the journey that lies ahead."

"Ok," Maddie got to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. "Julius and I will stay in here and try and figure out where the fountain is. The rest of you guys are going to have a training session."

"Now?" Patrick asked in a whiney tone and then blushed as his stomach growled loudly.

* * *

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	7. The Journey Begins

**Chapter 7 – The Journey Begins**

The next morning, the whole group got up early to see Rikku, Crystal, Maddie, and Tapeworm off.

"Just don't get yourself killed," Crystal said to Cody as she gave him a hug.

Cody smiled as he laughed nervously. "I'll be all right, I promise," he said as he kissed Crystal on the cheek. "Don't worry."

"You better be," Crystal remarked as she smiled also. "Just remember what we taught you and you'll be fine."

"I will," Cody repeated. With that he hugged Crystal again. "Have a good flight."

"Yea…" Crystal said. "I'm really looking forward to sitting on a plane for fourteen hours. Good thing I got this." With that she took her ipod headphones out and put them around her neck.

"Yea, I'd think 10,000 songs should last you," Cody replied with another smile.

"Good luck," Crystal said as she turned and headed over to the car. She put her suitcase in the trunk and promptly claimed the front seat. A second later however, Rafael smiled as he signaled that the front was his seat and she was going to have to move momentarily.

Unlike Cody and Crystal, the atmosphere between Zack and Rikku however was much cooler. The two teens stared at each other for a few seconds. Although each remained silent, it was as if each was still telling the other to be careful. A moment later, Rikku shook her head before walking over to and saying good bye to Rumiku. Finally she also headed towards the car.

"Wow," Mike commented. "Aren't you going to say good bye to-" he said but quickly stopped as Rumiku punched him in the shoulder. "Ow, you know that hurts right?"

Rumiku shook her head before going to see if her sister or any of the others needed a hand with their bags.

Julius and Maddie as well as Max and Tapeworm also said goodbye to each other. After a final round of good byes and waves, Julius climbed into the driver seat as Rafael climbed into the passenger seat. A moment later the car sped away towards the airport.

Cody walked over to Zack, who's face held a look of worry. "What's up Zack?" Cody asked, seeing the look in Zack's eyes.

At the sound of Cody's voice, Zack quickly straightened up. "Nothing, why?"

"You look worried," Cody said rolling his eyes but attempting to do so subtly so Zack wouldn't see it.

"Why would I be worried?" Zack said quickly.

Cody sighed. "Because although you got what you wanted, you're wondering what's going to happen between you and Rikku and how this is all going to turn out."

Zack's mouth dropped. "Don't tell me you can read minds now too."

Cody smiled. "Nope, only yours." He pushed Zack lightly on the shoulder. "Come on. I'm your twin, do you really think I can't tell if something's upsetting you?" _Plus,_ Cody continued to himself. _It's really not that hard to put two and two together, well maybe it is for Zack but not for me._

"You think that stuff they taught us will be enough?" Zack said. "I mean I'm glad we're normal again, but still that doesn't mean if we _have to _do this that I wouldn't rather have my element. Atleast until we find the fountain and stop Wingz Corp. Then I'm done!"

"Just promise me you aren't going to try to use the fountain to get rid of your element," Cody said as a serious tone fell over his voice. Zack stayed silent for a moment. "Zack! Please! Promise me!"

"Uh, I'll be right back Codes," Zack said. "That hotel breakfast just runs right through me. See you upstairs."

"Za-" Cody began but stopped when he saw Zack was inside. His wide eyes stared in Zack's direction for a few seconds as his stomach twisted into a knot.

"Hey Cody," Noah said. "Cody? Hello? Earth to Cody?"

Cody shook his head and concentrated back on reality. "Oh hey Noah"

Noah scanned him for a moment. "What's up Cody? You look worried."

Cody was taken slightly aback by the question he had just asked Zack a few moments ago. "Just a little nervous I guess," Cody mumbled, unsure if or not to tell him what he thought Zack was planning to do.

Noah looked at him. "It's all going to work out. Trust me."

"Y-yea I know," Cody said. "With all you guys taught us, I know we'll come out on top again. But still just nerves"

"We're gonna win," Noah said confidently.

_I hope, _Cody answered to himself. _Zack_…thoughts of his twin continued to circle in his mind as the rest of the group went back inside.

* * *

"Keep us updated all right?" Rikku said to Julius as she, Crystal, and Tapeworm, climbed out of the car at the airport.

"We will," Julius answered the best he could over the roar of a jetliner taking off. He gave his sister and cousin a hug before he backed off towards the car. "Have a good flight."

"If my dad comes up with anything we'll let you know also," Crystal said.

"Ok," Rafael answered as he looked at his watch. "You guys better get going. See you when this is over."

"See you," the three teens chorused in response. With that they walked over to the check in line, each one dragging their suitcases behind them.

"So you think that was enough training?" Tapeworm asked the two girls quietly as they got in line.

"They'll be fine," Rikku said as she leaned back against one of the line posts. She stretched her neck to the side, trying to see how long the line was to the check-in counter. "As long as they listen to us."

"Yep," Crystal confirmed.

"Yea, I guess you're right," Tapeworm answered. "So Maddie, figure out how exactly you're gonna tell Carey her sons are staying in Japan?"

Maddie smiled, "don't worry, I got it all figured out, just leave that to me."

* * *

"Ok guys," Rafael said to Zack, Cody, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. The group was in a small shrine near the temple they had visited two days earlier. After they had seen the others off, they went back and packed everything they thought they would need in their backpacks. Rafael and Julius carefully monitored this process, especially with Zack. After they were done, they exchanged wishes of good luck and then headed over to the shrine that according to Rafael, would get them to the Fountain of Lost Souls. "Now listen very carefully to me, we may only have one shot at this."

"One shot at what?" Zack asked, half dazed in thought. "Getting to where the fountain is?"

"Yes," Rafael replied as he took out a piece of paper. "According to this, the Fountain of Lost Souls is located in the center of a dense forest known as the Forest of Illusion."

Cody nodded. In his mind he ran over everything Patrick and Noah had told him. His eyes shifted in each of their directions. Noah's eyes also shifted to him. Cody saw this and quickly looked back to Rafael to hear what else he had to say.

"The forest supposedly has its own elemental properties," Rafael continued. "But unfortunately I couldn't find much on it. So be on your guard for anything. Now, here's what the scriptures say about getting into the forest. You must be on the bottom floor at precisely noon time."

With that Rafael also took out a map of the building and pointed to they had to be.

"Is that the only one?" Zack asked. "So if we're there Wingz Corp won't be able to get in?"

Rafael sighed. "No, it's just the closest gateway. There are several others around the Japan."

"Oh," Zack said before sighing and mumbling something under his breath.

"So I'm betting Wingz Corp is probably planning to use one of those," Cody said.

"It's possible. Now once you're in position and at exactly the right time, the five of you must say the incantations exactly," Rafael continued. He read the passage in Japanese several times and made them all repeat it back until they could all say it flawlessly. Not to Cody's surprise, Patrick and Noah seemed to already know exactly how to say it. He also noticed they tried to mask this in the way they repeated it to make it seem like they were just learning it then. "All of you must also say this at exactly the same time in synch."

"You gotta be kidding me," Zack said. Rafael looked at him. "Guess not." Zack muttered, looking away from Rafael's stare.

"No Zack," Rafael said. "I'm not kidding. Now let's get it so you call can say this together." With that the group practiced saying the incantations together until they were able to say them completely in synch with each other. "Good," Rafael said. "Now while you're looking for the fountain, your communicators should still work, but there is a good chance that they won't also."

"So if they don't we'll be completely cut off from you and everyone else?" Sydney asked.

"Don't worry Syd," Cody said. "If anyone can find a way to get them working if they go out, it'll be you."

"Thanks," Sydney said with a sigh. "Hope you're right. I really don't like the idea of not being able to talk to the outside world." Cody nodded his response.

"Just gonna haveta take that one as it comes," Noah remarked, looking at his brother.

"All right guys," Rafael said, looking down at his watch. "It's almost time." With that Rafael got up and used his map to lead the group to the bottom floor of the shrine. The room had a wooden interior with a set of traditional Japanese doors on each of the four walls. Near them were several Japanese inscriptions and symbols. In the middle of one door was a symbol depicting north. Each of the other three doors held the symbols for its respective directions. On the floor in the center of the room was a large circle with a star in the middle. One each point was an elemental symbol. Several more symbols also filled in the space between each point. "This shrine supposedly was built over the remains of the original shine created by the elementals during ancient times," Rafael explained as he motioned at the surrounding walls. "You can see some of what are supposed to be the original stones used in the foundation. Again, the shrine that was here during ancient times was just one of several built all over Japan."

"Wow," Cody said to himself. "I'll bet the original one is probably buried due to centuries of earthquakes, erosion, and shifting soil layers."

"Yep," Noah said.

As Cody continued to look around, he couldn't help but shake a weird feeling that had been forming within him since they had first stepped into the room. Noah saw this and smiled slightly to himself as he walked over towards Cody. "Feels like you've been here before huh?" Noah said softly so Cody was the only one that heard him.

Cody's eyes twisted. "How did you-" he began but stopped. The look in Noah's eyes told him that that was all the information on the topic he would get right now.

"You'll know soon enough," Noah said quickly before he walked away.

Cody walked over to Zack. "Hey Cody," Zack said. "I don't get it. I don't know why, but it feels like I've been here before. But then again this is our first time here ever. It's really weird."

"Yea," Cody replied shortly. "Weird."

"All right guys," Rafael said, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Each of you stand on a point of the star in the middle of the floor." As Zack, Cody, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney complied, Rafael handed Sydney a scroll.

"Wait, how are we going to know where we're going?" Zack blurted out. "Don't you got a map or something for us?" Rafael shook his head. "What?!"

Unable to contain his frustration, Patrick slapped his head before glaring at Zack. "It's called the Forest of Illusion for a reason, so a map isn't going to do you any good." Patrick said with a frustrated sigh. "Stop questioning everything and listen for once will you?" Zack looked back, taken slightly aback by Patrick's tone.

"Calm down," Rafael said. "This isn't the time or place for you to lose your cool. Anyway, each of the directions on the doors show where you'll appear in the forest. So basically if you go through the north door, you'll end up on the north side of the forest. Then you would just have to walk south until you got to the fountain. I believe that if the scriptures are true also, there should be pathways in the forest, so stay on those," Rafael warned. Each of the teens nodded their understanding. "This is where I leave you guys for now. Good luck."

"Can't you see us off?" Zack asked, despite the look he got.

"No, because if I'm in here when you guys say the incantations it'll mess it up," Rafael said. "Simply because I'm not going, so I can't say them."

"Ok."

"Thanks Raf-san," Sydney said. "We'll see you soon."

Rafael nodded. "Good luck guys." With that he turned and walked back up the stairs.

Cody watched the second hand on his watch. "Guys ready?" Everyone nodded. "Three…" The others anxiously looked on.

"two…"

"one…"

On cue, everyone said the incantations. All of them hoped that each person would say the passage properly and at the same time. Suddenly a bright white light filled the room. Each of the doors flung open as a strong wind blew in the four directions. "EVERYONE GO TO THE NORTH DOOR!" Noah yelled at the top of his lungs over the sound of the wind.

'WHAT?" Sydney called back.

"NORTH!"

The light continued to grow brighter and brighter, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. With Noah in the lead, the group made its way over to the north door. Each hung onto each other to make sure they would stay together. The closer they got to the door, the brighter the light grew. Finally as each stepped through the door, a flash of light blue light also filled the room.

Cody opened his eyes a moment later, soon followed by everyone else. Looking behind them, they saw the wooden exterior of the shrine they had just been in. In front of them however was a dirt path that led into a thick forest. "The Forest of Illusion," Cody muttered. "WE DID IT!"

Zack looked at his surroundings, awestruck by the sight in front of him and half dazed by everything that just happened. "Guys, I got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

* * *

**Sorry its been forever since I last updated. Merry Christmas everyone, hopefully this makes a good Christmas present for ya ;) Please Read and Review.**


	8. A Crazy Drive Home

**Chapter 8 – A Crazy Drive Home**

"So, I'm thinking that we should go to Christian's house first," Maddie stated as she, Rikku, Tapeworm, and Crystal walked out of the airport terminal, dragging their suitcases behind them. "And explain to him what's going on."

"That's a good idea," Tapeworm agreed. "It will also give us some time to ask him if he knows anything about the Fountain of Lost Souls and to get word back to the others."

"Right," Crystal agreed shortly. "But there's one problem."

"What's that?" Rikku asked as she turned to face her cousin.

"We don't have a car." She pointed out.

"Don't worry about that either," Maddie smiled a little bit as she pulled car keys out of her pocket and dangled them in the younger teenager's faces. "I figured that we would possibly need a way to get around so I rented a car."

"How much did that cost?" Tapeworm asked, looking concerned. "And where did you get the money for it?"

"Worry about that later," Maddie replied and then looked serious. "We have more important things to worry about. Like," she paused and looked around to make sure that no one was listening before continuing. "Whether or not our elements are going to be gone forever. So, let's get going."

Maddie led the younger teenagers through the crowded parking lot, walking as fast as she could. Ever since she had awakened her elemental power, she, as well as the others, knew that you could never be too careful and that you could be attacked at any time. Even when she knew that their biggest enemies most likely didn't have their elements anymore either, she didn't want to take the risk of being seen.

"Maddie, jeez, can you slow down a little bit?" Crystal called as she jogged lightly to keep up with her friend.

"Sorry, I'm a little worried." Maddie apologized as she turned to face her friends. Her brown eyes showed what she wasn't saying. She was scared, and worried. Being the healer of the group, it didn't surprise them that she was worried, but this was downright fear. The fear that all of this could go wrong and that things could be made worse is what scared her the most.

"We understand," Rikku replied calmly, in a soothing tone that the others weren't used to. "The whole idea of this…not being able to have our elements," she let out a sigh as she thought for a second. As if everything had just hit her. "It's just really foreign and uncomfortable."

"Adding with the fact that we almost seem to be watched every day doesn't help matters much." Tapeworm agreed. "But we have to believe in Zack and Cody. And Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. And if we have faith in them, they're going to do fine."

"Besides, with Cody, Noah, _and_ Sydney along, I'm sure that Patrick and Zack won't be able to mess this up." Crystal added with a teasing smile.

"Yeah, you're right," Maddie smiled back at her former roommate and continued to the car at a leisurely pace. "But the only thing that I have to wonder is what is Wingz Corp doing right now?"

"Probably complaining about how they have to be normal." Rikku replied and cracked a smile. "It's the one thing that they don't know how to do." Her smile faded and a guarded look filled her eyes.

"Well, we should get going." Tapeworm stated, feeling how tension filled the air.

The group of teenagers went over to the rental car, shoved their suitcases into the trunk, and got in, heading off towards Christian's house.

"Do you think your dad will know what the Fountain of Souls is?" Tapeworm asked Crystal as he twisted his body to face her. He was sitting in the passenger seat, next to Maddie, and Rikku and Crystal were in the back.

"If my dad doesn't, then I don't know who would." Crystal replied, practically shouting over the roar of the wind that was rushing through the open windows. "There are a lot of things about elements and elementals that still haven't been discovered, but I think that my dad would be able to find it out."

"Hm." Rikku muttered.

"What?" Maddie asked as she looked at her friend in the rearview mirror.

"I was just thinking how much we do know about elements and elementals." Rikku replied slowly. "But like Crys said, there's so much that we don't know about it. What I was just thinking is what if our elements were _supposed_ to go away. What if being an elemental doesn't last forever?"

"Well, whatever happens, we'll handle it." Maddie replied confidently. "I mean, what could go wrong?"

As soon as she finished her sentence, the four teenagers let out cries of pain as they were suddenly shot forward, their seatbelts cutting into their chests. Crystal whipped her head around and saw a car driving extremely close to theirs; it sped up and hit the back of the car again, this time, sending her forehead into the back of Maddie's seat. Head swimming and seeing stars, Crystal looked over her shoulder again and tried to see into the car.

It didn't surprise her when she saw that it was Kagenui and Shadows, respectively of the Black Wolves and DarkLions. What _did_ surprise her, though, was the fact that he was driving a car like a normal human being, as if he had been driving all of his life, and the fact that they were trying to kill them out in broad daylight. By her assumption, they were going to try and cause a major car accident, killing them, and then passing it off as a normal, everyday, car accident in Boston, Massachusetts.

"Shoot," Maddie muttered under her breath before pressing her foot down on the accelerator and merging into the lane beside her. "What should I do?"

"I don't know," Tapeworm replied. "But if I had my element right now, I could stop them easily."

"No you couldn't," Rikku pointed out as she tightly held onto her seat, her knuckles turning red. "There'd be too many witnesses and I know that you wouldn't want to risk anyone seeing you using your powers. Especially since there have been people running around lately trying to figure out how my dad died. You can't just pop out and say 'Yeah, my elemental friend killed him. Can you please not take us into captivity and poke and prod us with tests?"

"She has a point," Crystal pointed out and then frowned at her cousin. "In her own tactless way."

"Hey!"

Maddie ignored the two girls and glanced back into her rearview mirror again. "They're gaining pretty fast." She muttered before the car got hit again. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

"I think you should drive to Christian's house." Rikku decided after a second of thought.

"Bad idea," Tapeworm advised. "They'll just follow us and know where we go when we're not at school or at the hotel. One of the few places where we have a sanctuary, I wouldn't want that to get damaged."

"Just out run them!" Crystal replied, she looked like she would regret the decision after the words came out of her mouth. "I know that there's going to be a great chance that a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt. But we have to get away from them and out of here. I don't want there to be police attention when we're still here."

"Alright," Maddie hesitated, her conscious attacking her from both sides, before changing gears and pressing her foot down even further on the gas pedal, starting to weave in and out of cars. She winced as there were loud horns being honked and people screaming at her.

"It's ok, Maddie." Tapeworm soothed. "We're going to be fine."

"You know, I often wondered how you and Max got together, but now I know why." Rikku stated with a wry smile, despite the circumstances. "You guys are total opposites, but it works."

"Thanks."

"If we could just, you know, back away from this little love fest for a minute," Crystal jumped into the conversation. "And worry about the fact that-"

"_Hey its Julius, did you guys get home ok?"_

Crystal raised her watch up to her mouth to respond. To most people it would seem like a normal watch, but to those who knew what it was, it was a watch that the elementals used to communicate with each other. One day Sydney had invented it, so they would be able to talk whenever their cell phones were dead or something.

"We're not home yet, and we aren't exactly having a good drive home." Crystal replied.

"_What do you mean? What's going on? What's wrong?"_

"Before you have a spaz attack, we're kind of having trouble with some friends."

"_You mean the BlackWolves?"_

"Kagenui and Shadow, to be exact." Crystal corrected. "They're trying to run us off the road. We have absolutely no idea why, but when we get back to dad's house, we'll talk back."

"_Ok, stay safe."_

"Always," Crystal replied with a chuckle and winced as their car was hit again. By the time they got to her dad's house, there wouldn't be much left of the car and Maddie was having trouble not clipping a few cars every time she merged into a new lane. Kagenui and Shadow were still right behind them. "Maddie, we're going to have to get out of here, I hear some police sirens."

"And where exactly do you think I should go?" Maddie replied, sounding hysterical. "I don't even know where we are."

"I do!" Tapeworm cried and leaned over to grab the wheel. "Turn this way," he turned the wheel hard and Maddie cried out before turning it back.

"Are you kidding?" she cried. "Are you trying to get us killed? I don't even know where that goes!"

"Trust me, Maddie; I know what I'm doing." Tapeworm reassured her as he brushed his hair out of his face. "I know every road in this city by heart and if you follow my directions, then we'll be able to get away from them." Maddie stared at her younger friend and then nodded. "Ok, take this exit as fast as you can."

Maddie obeyed her friend and sharply turned off onto the upcoming road and exited the highway.

"Ok, we lost sight of em'." Rikku stated as she looked through the back window again. She crawled into the very backseat. "I'll keep watch and make sure that they don't find us."

"Ok, now at this next stop light, take a left." Tapeworm instructed and leaned back in his seat, a small, amused smile on his face. "Welcome back to Boston, guys."

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	9. Into the Forest

(**Chapter 9 – Into the Forest**

Zack and Cody looked around in awe at their new surroundings. In front of them was a dirt path surrounded by dense trees and brush. After a short distance, the pathway wound behind another section of tightly packed trees. "Wow," Zack said as he began to take a step forward. As he did so however, he felt and arm stick out, stopping him. Looking over, he saw Noah retract his arm when he felt Zack would stop. "Hey! What gives?"

"We gotta stay together," Noah said.

"Yea I know," Zack replied. "Just caught up in the moment, so I guess we go this way." With that Zack started to walk down the path but didn't get far before Noah stopped him again.

"We'll go first," Noah said in an affirmative tone. "Syd, you bring up the rear. Everyone stay close."

"Gotcha," Patrick and Sydney said almost in unison. Cody nodded his agreement also. With that, the group began to make its way down the dirt path ahead of them. As they walked Zack and Cody curiously looked around at forest. As if mesmerized, each of them began to wander towards the surrounding vegetation before being pulled back by Sydney. "Stay with us guys," he would say each time. Each time Patrick and Noah would stop and look back, making sure that everyone was still there.

As they walked, Zack looked over to his left and saw that the path turned around, back tracked, then proceeded forward, making an "S" shape over the ground. Looking forward again, he saw Noah and Patrick walking around the turn. "Hey uh guys, why don't you just cut across? Its faster."

"No," Noah said, looking back. "We gotta stay on the path, it's the fastest way to the fountain according to Rafael."

"Apparently not since, since it winds around," Zack replied. "All you're doing is adding time."

"No, all we're doing is keeping your butt from getting lost in here," Patrick said.

"How can we get lost?" Zack snapped. "The path is right there!" Zack rolled his eyes as he pointed over to this left.

"Because we're going this way and that's final!" Noah snapped back, obviously getting more and more annoyed with Zack.

"Hey who made you boss?" Zack said, taken aback by Noah's tone. "Besides that, do you even know where you're going?"

Noah sighed as he rolled his eyes. "It's called the Forest of Illusion for a reason. Let me just explain this, you get lost…"

"You stay lost!" Patrick finished.

"How can we get lost when I can see where we're going?" Zack said.

"Step off the path, and you'll find out," Patrick answered. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life in here. As such, I suggest you keep quiet for now."

"Well, maybe if we had a map-" Zack began.

Patrick snickered sarcastically, as his temper began to rise. "A map, in the Forest of Illusion? Yea, that'll get you real far. The forest is called that because that's what its filled with…illusions!"

"Zack, maybe we should listen to him," Cody said in a tone that basically said that he had heard enough as he put his hand on his twin's shoulder when he saw his twin getting ready to retort again. He knew that everyone was under a lot of stress and that the last thing they needed right now was a another fight. "They know more about all this stuff than we do, and I want to find the fountain before Wingz Corp. We didn't even know what elements were until we met them, so just cut it out and listen to Noah and Pat." Zack looked at Cody before nodding grudgingly.

"All right then," Noah said. "Like I said, everyone stay close." After a little while, the group came up on a fork in the path. Noah stopped and smiled at Zack. "Here Zack, let me show you something," Noah said in a voice that to Cody was filled with a tone of arrogance. He picked up a dirt clump and turned as if he was going to throw it down one of the directions.

"What are you doing?" Sydney asked.

"Proving why we should listen to Raf-san," Noah said as if it were obvious. "Zack what do you think is going to happen when I throw this?"

"Uh, go through the air down that way?" Zack said. "Not even Ryan is that stupid."

"You wouldn't say that if he were here," Noah replied with a snicker. With that, he threw the dirt clump. To Cody and Sydney's amazement, as well as Patrick's "amazement," the clump flew a few feet before exploding. After everyone in the group blinked a few times in awe, a tree appeared where that part of the fork had been.

"Like I said," Noah said. "There is a good reason why this place is called the Forest of Illusion. Got it?"

"Yea I got it," Zack muttered in a defeated tone. Unable to help themselves, Cody and Sydney both chuckled until they each got a look from Zack.

"Now that that's settled," Patrick said. "Let's get going." With that, he and Noah turned down the remaining path, the others close behind them.

"So how long you think this is going to take?" Cody asked Sydney.

"No idea," Sydney replied. "Just…" Suddenly the young boy stopped mid sentence as his eyes fell on a figure in the brush a few yards away. He blinked twice and rubbed his eyes but the figure refused to disappear.

"What is it Syd?" Cody said as he looked over where Sydney was, however, unlike Sydney all Cody saw was brush. "Syd?" The others stopped also, each trying to see what had caused Sydney to stop.

The youngest Hiroshima continued to stare in horror at the figure as it began to walk their way as if something out of a nightmare. _No, not him…not him…_ The thought continued to whirl and spin around Sydney's mind. A moment later, Robert Sapporo stopped approaching and stood still in the bushes just a few feet away.

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